Electron optical instrument



0a. 24, 1944. J. HILLIER 2,360,872

ELECTRON OPTICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Sept. 25. 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fgl.

B3 MM (Iltomeg Zmventor.

. 1944. J. HILLIER 2,360,872

ELECTRON OPTICAL' INSTRUMENT Filed Sept. 25, 1943 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 s v s s (Tttorneg Patented Oct. 24, 1944 f ELECTRO'N OPTICAL INSTRUMENT James Hillier, Cranbury, N. J., assignor t nadio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application September 25, 1943,Serial No. 503,774

5 'Claims.

upper side a coating of willemite or other fluo-' rescent material whichzconverts the electron'image into an optical image.

The optical image may-be viewed by an .observerlooking through an eyepiece mounted in a side wall of the instrument above the plane of the screen. Usually, the viewingscreenis hinged and has aphotographicplate holder or cassette therebeneath-so that, when the electron image is to be photographed, the screen maybe lifted to expose the photographic plate to the electrons. When the-imageis to be viewed directly -(i. e. on the fluorescent screen) the number of observers who can view the screen at one time is of course limited to the number of .eyepieces or Windows which can be provided in the limited wall space available. In an effort to solve this problem it has previously been proposed to construct the viewing chamber in the form of a binnacle (asto thissee .cop'ending application of C. J. Young,Ser. No. 456,597, filed August 29, 1942) but this requires a very special supporting structure capable of withstanding the (atmospheric) pressure which :prevails adjacent to the transparent cover or top plate through which the fluorescent screen is viewed. Further, since in any event the screen is relatively remote from the observer the optical image thereon cannot be examined with a magnifying glass.

In another type of electron--;1r1icroscope, wherein the electron axis is arranged more or.less:horizontally, the fluorescent viewing screen is constituted of-glass and comprises an end wall of the instrument. This "dispenses with the necessity fo auxiliary windows or eye-pieces and otherwise simplifies the construction. of the instrument. Such instruments, however, as heretofore constructed, make no provision :for photographing the electron image, though the fluorescent (optical) image may, .of.course, be'photographed from the exterior of the microscope. Such photographs, however, may be affected by defects in the glass and by the long exposure time required and hence are in no wisecomparable in quality to those obtained when the photographic plate or film is exposed directly to the electrons within the instrument.

Accordingly, the principal object of the present invention is to obviate the foregoing and other less apparent objections toielectron optical instruments of the prior art.

Another" and 'related object of "the inventionis to provide "an improved electron optical instrument of the type provided with a translucent viewing screen and one wherein 'provision'is made for photographing the electron images or patterns produced within the vacuous space intermediate the screen and the source of the electrons.

Anothenobject of the inventionis .to provide an improved photographic plate holder or cassette forelectron optical instruments of the general character described.

Another more specific object of th present invention is'to provide an improved cassette'having but za single external control and one whichoperates within the minimum-exposure time to produce photographs of extremely high resolution. Otherobjects and advantages will be apparent and the invention itself will 'be best understood by a reference tothe following description and tothe, accompanying drawings, *wherein .Figure 1 is a front elevation of the viewing chamber of an electron microscope having a transmission type .viewing screen and provided with a vacuum-tight 'door through which access may be had to the interior of said chamber.

Figures 2 and 3 are vertical sections of the viewing chamber of Figure -1 showing a cassette constructed in accordance with the principle of the invention, the direction and movement-of the several parts of the cassette being indicated by broken arrows, and

.Figure 4 is a sectional viewof therapparatus of Figures .1. to 3-takenon the line IV-.IV of Figure 3 and showing the cassette in its raised position.

.In the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters represent thesame parts in all figures, -l designates, generally, an electron microscope or analagous electron image device having an evacuable viewing chamber3 provided witha-fluorescentscreen or window 5 and which containsa cassette 1 constructed and operated in accordance with the principle of the present invention. .As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the fluorescent window 5 is mounted in a suitable escutcheon-9 at the front of the viewing chamber and there is a vacuum-tight door ll beneath the escutcheon through which access .may be had to the interior of the said chamber for the purpose of removing the cassette 1 and for placing a photographic plate therein.

As indicated by the straight arrow l3 (Fig. .2), the electron image beam enters the viewing chamberthrough an aperture l5 which surrounds the optical axis of the device and which will be understood to communicate with the lens chamher (not shown) of the microscope. This apertur 5, at the rear of the viewin chamber I, is in register with the center of the translucent fluorescent screen Hence, when the image is to be viewed directly, the beam l3 impinges the rear surface of the said screen and forms a light image thereon which is visible to an observer looking into the screen at the front of the chamber.

As will hereinafter more fully appear, the cassette of the invention is pivotedly mounted so that when the image is to be viewed directly (1. e. on the fluorescent screen 5) the cassette 1 may be swung downwardly out of the way of the screen and, when the image is to be ph0to-' graphed, swung upwardly into the path of the electron image beam l3. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the cassette 1 is provided with shutter IT and an important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a single control for both (almoving the cassette 1 into the path of the electron image and (b) operating its shutter I! to expose the photographic plate or film therein to said image.

Both the cassette 1 and its shutter I! are carried by a shaft 1 9 which extends across the viewing chamber adjacent to the vacuum-tight door H. As shown in Fig. 4, this shaft comprises a central section |9a and two stub portions lb and 190 to which the central part is removably afiixed by a sleeve or clutch 2|. The stub shaft I90 extends through a side wall of the viewing chamber and terminates in a single control knob 23. A vacuum-tight seal is maintained about the shaft |9c by means of a grommet 25, which may be constituted of synthetic rubber coated with oil of a low vapor pressure, and which is urged into intimate contact with the shaft by means of a threaded bushing 21 through which the shaft passes.

The cassette 1 terminates at its lower end in an inverted U-shape yoke 29 and is supported for rotation on the shaft 19 either by. bearings or, more simply, by looping the ends of the U about the shaft, as indicated at 29a, Fig. 4. The cassette cover ll, on the other hand, is fixed on the shaft 11 by two spring clips 3l which are clamped about the shaft by means of screws 33. A latch 35 which has a sliding fit in a guideway 3'! (Fig. 4) on the back of the cassette operates through its bent-over free end to holdthe cover H in its closed position against the opposite side of the cassette as shown in Fig. 2. A cam 39 which is fixed on the shaft l9 between the spring clamps 3| serves to lift the latch 35 into engagement with a catch 4|, at the top of the viewing chamber, when the cassette and its cover are moved into a position normal to the electron axis it of the device by turning the control knob 23;

that is to say, when the cassette assembly l-I|,

is raised to a position whereat the latch 35 is in register with the catch 4|, continued rotation in the same direction of the shaft l9 and hence of the cam 39 will cause the cam to move the sliding latch member 35 into engagement with the catch 4|.

A reverse rotation of the shaft I9 will move the cover l1 away from the cassette I and thereby expose the photographic plate therein to the electron image. This requires a 90 rotation and during this movement the'cassette I is maintained in its raised position by the latch 35 which is held within the catch 4| by the cam 39. The exposure is terminated by a reverse rotation of the shaft which returns the cover or shutter I! to its closed position. Continued rotation releases the sliding latch 35 from the catch 4| so that the whole assembly may be lowered into its initial position and removed through the door I I, whereupon the photographic plate may be removed and developed.

In conclusion, it may be pointed out that the .exposure time for photographing the electron image within the viewing chamber is of the order of .0-1 to .001 of that employed in photographing the optional image from the exterior of the said chamber and that this greatly reduces the power supply regulation requirements (and h nce the cost) of the instrument. Further, the c ntrast and gamma of photographs obtai ed within the instrument are superior to those obtained by photographing the optical image from a point in front of the fluorescent screen.

What is claimed is:

1. In a viewing device having an optical axis, a rotatable shaft having an axis which is offset from said optical axis, a cassette supported on said shaft, and means for moving said cassette into and out of a plane substantially normal to said optical axis.

2. In an electron optical instrument having a viewing chamber including a translucent fiuores cent screen and containing an electron optical axis along which electrons travel in their journey to said screen, a cassette mounted for movement within said chamber on the side of said screen which is presented to said electrons, and means for moving said cassette into and out of the path of said electrons.

3. In a viewing chamber having an optical axis, a rotatable shaft, a cassette and a normally closed shutter therefor supported for relative movement on said shaft and movable into and out of a plane substantially normal to said optical axis, and means operative when said cassette is in said plane for opening said normally closed shutter.

4. In an electron optical instrument having an evacuable viewingchamber including a translucent fluorescent screen and containing an electron optical axis along which electrons travel in their journey to said screen, a shaft supported for rotation within said chamber along an axis substantially normal to said electron axisand offset therefrom, a cassette supported for relative movement on and with respect to said shaft, a shutter for said cassette supported on said shaft and movable with said cassette into a plane substantially parallel to said fluorescent screen, a latch mounted on said cassette and adapted to hold said shutter in its normally closed position, a catch for said latch mounted within said chamber and in register with said latch when said cassette and its cover are moved by said shaft into said plane, a cam mounted on said shaft and adapted to move said latch out of engagement with said shutter and into engagement with said catch whereby said shutter may be opened upon rotation of said shaft in the reverse direction to expose the interior of said cassette to said electrons, and means exterior of said chamber for rotating said shaft.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 4 and wherein said evacuable viewing chamber is provided with a vacuum-tight door in register with said shaft and said shaft is removably mounted whereby said shaft and the shuttered cassette thereon may be removed as a unit from said. 

